In the existing Internet-based environment, the social network formed by online netizens has evolved beyond the simple connection between individual subscribers, and involves one-to-many and many-to-many relationships. A social network includes online users and their related networks, such as instant message (IM) systems and Internet SNS (Social Network Service) communities based on WEB2.0. Taking an IM application for example, before its subscribers intercommunicate and exchange information through their respective IM clients, the IM application typically requires certain bilateral social network relationship between the subscribers who are about to communicate with each other, in order to accelerate orientation of communicating parties and prevent subscribers from sending spam information and/or harassing messages. In light of the rules of the current IM applications, when user A intends to initiate communication with user B who is not within his/her social relationship table, it is necessary for user A to ask for user B's consent to build a certain social relationship. To that end, user A typically sends user B an authentication request message, which expresses his/her intention to be a subscriber having certain social relationship with user B. Only when user B authenticates user A's authentication request message, will user A be allowed to access user B through user A's social relationship table and initiate communication with user B.
During the process where user A applies to be a user having certain social relationship with user B, the only way for user B to know about user A's identification and other information by which user B can decide whether or not to build the social relationship with user A is through the authentication request message manually input by user A. In other words, traditionally, the authentication request message is completely subject to user A's manual input, and it is impossible for the system to automatically acquire user A's identification and the social relationship between user A and user B. On one hand, this causes inefficiency in building social relationship between two subscribers. On the other hand, there is no way to provide sufficient parameter for user B to make decision about user A's authentication request message.